Monday, November 30, 2009

Alma the Younger--TURNED IN

It's done. At least one of the many steps in the multi-layered process of taking a book from the first word to publication. I turned in Alma the Younger to my publisher, and now the wait begins :)

I copied my cover letter below so that you can catch a glimpse of the submission process.

Dear [Editor],In the book of Mosiah, we learn that Alma the Elder has been made high priest over the land of Zarahemla. Life for Alma and his people is bliss compared to the previous years of near slavery in the land of Helam. Alma is finally able to worship the Lord openly and establish His church throughout the land with the blessing of King Mosiah. The years pass in relative peace, except for some disturbances and persecution among the non-believers and the members of the church.

As the protests against the church escalate, Alma makes a terrible discovery. His grown son, Alma the Younger, has turned into a “very wicked and idolatrous man . . . therefore he led many of the people to do after the manner of his iniquities” (Mosiah 27:8). If there was ever a time for a father to pray for his son, this is it.

In the following manuscript, Alma the Younger is not depicted as simply a rebellious teenager, playing pranks or skipping Sabbath meetings to go fishing or hunting. He is a grown man, at the age of twenty-one, characterized as intelligent and well educated. But he is a sign-seeker, the embodiment of an anti-Christ, who refuses to truly believe in a God he cannot see. He is carefully led by Satan down a path of wickedness and idolatry, and his charismatic personality enables him to influence many and lead them away from the church.

His father, Alma the Elder, is heart-broken and powerless to influence him. So he turns to the one Being he’s depended on for years and offers up his pleas and prayers to the Lord.

The Lord answers in a fantastical way—He sends an angel to command Alma the Younger to stop destroying the church.

I’m pleased to present Alma the Younger, a story of hope and redemption, and sequel to Abinadi and Alma. This novel encompasses the scriptures found in Mosiah 26–28, depicting the downfall of Alma the Younger and his eventual change of heart. The manuscript is complete at 90,000 words, with the chapter notes still in progress.